Canada, Mexico travel rule dropped

WASHINGTON -- Bowing to opposition from border communities and from the travel industry, the Bush administration said yesterday that it will not require US citizens who frequently cross between the United States and Canada or Mexico to carry a passport, and will instead issue a more simple ''passport card."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the compromise as part of a package of revised travel rules. Most of the measures will use new technology to clear some of the travel bottlenecks caused by increased security after the 2001 terror attacks.

The moves include the use video teleconferencing to speed the visa application process, extending the lengths of foreign-student visas, and establishing a review process for travelers who believe they have been unjustly detained for screening at border control points.

But in a reversal, they said US citizens who travel over land to and from the United States' northern and southern neighbors will not have to carry a passport, a requirement that was set to go into effect by next year.

Instead, a less expensive, less complex version of the new high-tech passports will be required, officials said.

''We're talking about, essentially, the kind of driver's license or other simple card identification that almost all of us carry in our wallets day in and day out," Chertoff said yesterday in Washington. ''This would be particularly helpful for people who regularly cross the border as part of their regular lives."

Americans have long been able to travel to Canada and Mexico by showing a driver's license or birth certificate.

But Congress moved to toughen the rules, declaring that by 2007 travelers would need a passport or one of three other secure sources of identification to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, or Central and South America.

Border communities and tourism officials, however, criticized the new requirements, saying Americans would be less inclined to engage in cross-border travel and trade if they were forced to acquire a passport, which costs $85 for those older than 16 and $70 for those younger than 16.

In a letter to President Bush last month, Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington and Premier Gordon Campbell of British Columbia said they were ''concerned that stringent requirements are being developed that will significantly alter the quality of life and economic prosperity for law-abiding citizens, while terrorists will continue to falsify any ID we put in place."

''I've lived along the Canadian border all of my life . . . and realize the impact that this mandate for passports would bring about," Ron Marlenee, a former Republican representative from Montana, was quoted as saying last week to the Associated Press.

Now, citizens who travel over land will have a simpler alternative.

According to a fact sheet provided by Chertoff's office, the Homeland Security department envisions ''an inexpensive, secure, biometric passport card as an alternative to a traditional passport book for use by US citizens in border communities who frequently cross our land borders." It added: ''As we develop the passport card, we are consulting closely with Canada and Mexico."

The measure was announced as part of a ''joint vision" for border and travel security unveiled by Rice and Chertoff.

Among the measures are a pilot program to use the Internet and video teleconferencing to conduct interviews with applicants for travel visas, which have been backlogged since Sept. 11, 2001, in some countries.

So-called e-passports, with digital photos and a computer chip containing biometric information, such as an eye scan, are now in the early stages of being developed. They are set to be introduced by the end of the year. The government is also extending the length of time that foreign students may be issued student visas, from 90 days to 120 days.

The new measures were welcome news to the travel industry. Suzanne Fletcher, president and chief executive officer of the National Business Travel Association, said in a statement that ''many elements of this plan are clear victories for the travel industry and for business."

Those who depend on Americans traveling to Canada and Mexico were particularly pleased.

''We see it as very positive move," said Real Robichaud, executive director of the Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick, Canada. ''People said [if] we need a passport to go over we are not going to bother."

Bryan Bender can be reached at bender@globe.com.